Honor To Us All

Photo above was taken during our All Saint's Day celebration last November 1st.

This is where the body of my Grandfather lies at Saint Francis of Assisi Memorial Park here at General Trias, Cavite. I have posted a little about him last January on my post A Great Man Named Sam .

Every November 1st, Filipinos flock to their Loved Ones's Cemeteries and Memorial Parks to Celebrate All Saint's Day. Every Niche becomes a place where Families, other even go home from abroad, to reunite with each other. Each of their own places are placed with typical Flowers and Candles to Honor their Ancestors. But for us Chinese Families, we never ran out of fruits and other food items as offerings to our Ancestors. So in lieu of the Flowers, we used these fruits such as Grapes, Apples and our Native Lanzones as decorations. All the people passing by our place at the Park can't help but stop and stare at my Lolo's Niche. Different Decorations, Different Styles, One Reason, to honor our Loved Ones the Filipino Way.

My Grandfather, Que Chua Le or Sam Tan in Filipino, was born in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. He left his country while he was still a teenager and went to the Philippines to try his life here in the mid 1930's. He tried so hard in his early years in the Philippines just like his fellow Chinese Nationals who came here. He met my Grandmother Genoveva, now of good health at the age of 82, while they are still very young and they decided to start a family together. They had Seven Children, Gaudencio, Josefina, Carlito, Elenita, my father Ernesto, Benjamin, and Evangelina. They all have their own Chinese names but being born in the Philippines, they all use their Hispanic Christian names.

They strive so hard to get the life that we enjoy right now. All of these are fruits from all of their labor and I am truly proud of my Lolo and Lola, Grandma and Grandpa in Filipino. If I have to live my life again, I would definitely ask the Lord for one single thing, and that is to be their Grandson! Lolo Sam and Lola Bebang will always bring Honor To Us All.